Thursday, March 03, 2011

I Could Use Some Time Off.....

A California school teacher was placed on paid administrative leave after he rattled a table to get the attention of his math students, startling an eighth-grade girl who used her cell phone to call police...

Officers found a calm teacher with class in session.

The sergeant says the teacher's table-rattling startled a student and she used her cell phone to call 911. He says other students in the class weren't bothered by the teacher's actions.

What lessons have just been taught to those students? I hope that teacher enjoys his or her well-deserved break.

8 comments:

So if a student doesn't like a teacher, just call 911 and the teacher is removed "pending an investigation".

Uh oh, didn't study for the test. 911. Teacher gone, no test.Late, want to avoid a tardy? 911. No teacher to record the tardy.Teacher tells student to sit down, open notebook, and start taking notes? 911. Back to gossiping instead of learning.

etc etc

On the other hand, teachers could use this to their advantage. Have every teacher in the district ask students to call 911 on them. Poof, every teacher is removed. The district then goes crazy trying to find substitutes. Might make them reconsider their policy, as subs cost the district more money, and money is all district officials care about.

Having gone to parochial school I wish the only things the nuns had done was rattle the desks.

Without discipline there can be no learning.

As an aside, I've banned all my employees from having their personal cellphones while on the job site. They have company issued phones and have been told that if there is a family emergency to have their family members funnel the message through the office and then we will contact them. It's amazing how non-existent the "emergencies" have become since we instituted this policy.

Scott, I am pretty sure some teachers "choose their battles" and ignore students with cell phones. And in case you forgot, you don't have to actually talk to anyone at 911 for them to send a response. More info needed in regards to whether or not she was making a report, or just called.

Left Coast Ref, she'd have to had made a report. They would have called her back if she didn't talk to anyone. And they dont automatically trace a cell phone as soon as the call comes in. Special technicians are needed to trace the call, and they need supervisors permission to do so (which from my experience is easy to get). If they did trace her, they would have called the school first before just showing up. If they didn't trace her, they would just keep calling back because otherwise they wouldnt know where to go. It's assumed that 911 call centers are "text" capable too......absolutely false. Less than 10 counties in the nation are text capable.

And any teacher who ignores a student on the phone in the middle of class should be fired.

I do make sure kids put away cell phones BUT....there are problems. Boys can text without seeing by having their hands in their hoodie pocket. Girls will leave their purses on their desk and languidly drape their hands inside to text. They take phones with them to the bathroom or to get a drink. I personally find having cell phones on at work, at school, at funerals or at weddings intrusive. And yes, I have heard phones go off in all of these circumstances. The saddest scene of all is young mothers that are so glued to their phones that even on a walk to the park, they totally ignore their own children. Seriously, does anyone need this much contact?

According to the article HuffPo was referencing, the teacher picked up a corner of his desk and then dropped it to get the students' attention. In this case, it accidentally fell over. The girl in question then borrowed her friend's cell phone and called the police from the bathroom.